Fort Frances town council will move ahead with the design work on a proposed roundabout at the intersection of Central Avenue, Second and Third Streets.
An application is being forwarded to the provincial government to help offset the costs.
The decision reacts to a consultant’s report that recommends a roundabout.
The report says it is the most appropriate solution to address traffic flow and improve safety.
Construction costs could come as high as $4.7 million for a two-laned roundabout that would include an additional lane for lane for U.S. bound traffic.
The report notes that the town could spend up to $3 million to simply reconfigure the intersection and bring the existing traffic signals up to standard, but it would not provide the same benefits.
Operations and Facilities Manager Travis Rob says the decision to proceed will not be made until the design work is complete.
“Provided we are successful in our grant application, we will proceed with detailed design. A stage of that would be coming back with more refined design options and a decision on which design we’re going to go with,” says Rob.
The cost of a roundabout is concerning to some councillors.
Councillor Bill Morrison notes the figures identified in the consultant’s report are a lot higher than the estimates provided by Administration.
“When this was first brought to council, it was estimated, I believe you said, one to $2 million. It looks like to me, it’s gonna be like $5 million,” says Morrison.
“If it goes over, then all of a sudden the town’s gonna be on the hook. And what I can see here, if it’s up to $6 million, then all of a sudden we’re going to be able to look for an extra million in addition to our 10%.”
Councillor Steve Maki has similar concerns, noting that other projects have come in well over estimates.
“So $4.7 million could be five, six, $7 million,” says Maki.
“I think at this point, we as council should be deciding whether we even want to go ahead and spend the $50,000 on the engineering report when we know we’re going to be at $5 million or more.”
Rob says the design and engineering study will better determine what the final cost may be.
As the intersection is on a roadway that serves as a link to the provincial highway network, the province, through its Connecting Links program, will provide 90% funding for the studies and construction up to $5 million.
The town is budgeting $200,000 for the detailed design work.
The following are concepts of different versions of roundabouts offered by consultants and are not reflective of any final decision made by town council.
